Wind turbine

Abstract

The invention concerns a wind turbine comprising a tower ( 23 ), on top of the tower a nacelle ( 29 ) supported by a vertical drum ( 24 ) enclosing an upper room ( 52 ), a rotor rotating with a more or less horizontal shaft ( 32 ) supported in bearings ( 17, 31 ) mounted in the nacelle with at one end a hub ( 3 ) with turbine blades ( 5 ) and at the other end a generator rotor ( 27 ) rotating with a narrow gap ( 44 ) inside a generator stator ( 11 ), the generator stator being mounted with its outer surface against an outer wall ( 9 ) of the nacelle ( 29 ), which outer wall might have cooling strips ( 37 ) or similar on its outer surface. In accordance with the invention the wind turbine comprises a first cooling system for cooling the part ( 19 ) of the outer surface of the generator stator ( 11 ) and/or of the outer wall ( 9 ) of the nacelle ( 29 ) located in the upper room ( 52 ).

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. Wind turbine comprising a tower ( 23 ), on top of the tower a nacelle ( 29 ) supported by a vertical drum ( 24 ) enclosing an upper room ( 52 ), a rotor rotating with a more or less horizontal shaft ( 32 ) supported in bearings ( 17 , 31 ) mounted in the nacelle with at one end a hub ( 3 ) with turbine blades ( 5 ) and at the other end a generator rotor ( 27 ) rotating with a narrow gap ( 44 ) inside a generator stator ( 11 ), the generator stator being mounted with its outer circumferential surface against an outer wall ( 9 ) of the nacelle, the generator stator being positioned on top of the vertical drum with a central axis of the tower crossing the generator stator, the vertical drum having a top edge enclosing part of the outer surface of the generator stator and/or of the outer wall of the nacelle mounted against the outer surface of the generator stator, wherein the wind turbine comprises a first cooling system for cooling said part ( 19 ) of the outer surface of the generator stator ( 11 ) and/or of the outer wall ( 9 ) of the nacelle ( 29 ), said cooling system being located in the upper room ( 52 ) and comprising one or more channels to guide a cooling medium along the part of the outer surface of the generator stator and/or of the outer wall of the nacelle enclosed by the top edge of the vertical drum. 
     
     
       2. Wind turbine in accordance with  claim 1  wherein the first cooling system includes a control system ( 39 ) connected to a number of sensors ( 45 ) in the generator stator ( 11 ). 
     
     
       3. Wind turbine in accordance with  claim 1  wherein the first cooling system includes a control system ( 39 ) connected to a number of sensors ( 45 ) in the generator stator ( 11 ) which control system can set different cooling capacities for different parts of the outer surface ( 19 ) and/or outer wall ( 9 ) located in the upper room ( 52 ). 
     
     
       4. Wind turbine in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the first cooling system includes a control system ( 39 ) connected to a number of sensors ( 45 ) in the generator stator ( 11 ) which control system is coupled to a first ventilator ( 41 ) circulating air over the outer surface of the generator stator and/or outer wall of the nacelle ( 29 ) located in the upper room ( 52 ). 
     
     
       5. Wind turbine in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the outer surface of the generator stator ( 11 ) and/or outer wall ( 9 ) of the nacelle ( 29 ) located in the upper room ( 52 ) is provided with cooling ribs ( 49 ). 
     
     
       6. Wind turbine in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein the wind turbine has an over-all safety protection system and at least two of the sensors ( 45 ) of the control system ( 39 ) are part of the safety protection system. 
     
     
       7. Wind turbine in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the wind turbine comprises an air circulation channel ( 43 ) with a second ventilator ( 42 ) for circulating cooling air through the narrow gap ( 44 ) between the generator stator ( 11 ) and the generator rotor ( 27 ). 
     
     
       8. Wind turbine in accordance with  claim 7 , wherein the air circulation channel ( 43 ) leads air from the inside of the vertical drum ( 24 ) to the narrow gap ( 44 ). 
     
     
       9. Wind turbine in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the upper room ( 52 ) has a cooling air inlet ( 38 ) at the side opposite the hub ( 3 ). 
     
     
       10. Wind turbine in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein the number of sensors is six or more. 
     
     
       11. Wind turbine in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the upper room ( 52 ) contains an air circulation channel ( 43 ) for cooling housing for the generator and a channel ( 47 ) for cooling inner parts of the generator stator ( 11 ).